Expressive Figure Drawing

Conveying Mood & Emotion

Harness the elements of artistic expression to create emotive drawings that captivate the viewer!

Learn how to use composition, placement and movement to convey emotion as award-winning artist Richard T. Scott guides you through the design principles behind some of history’s most celebrated masterworks. Transform a simple line into an expression of weight, shadow and gravity, and create a compelling visual narrative using gesture, rhythm and repetition. Use triangulation to easily and accurately map proportions as you create a lifelike contour drawing of a plaster cast. Then, use charcoal and an eraser for a reductive cast rendering with atmospheric depth and sculptural form. Learn the visual language of mood and emotion, and translate your expressive intent into a striking work of art!

Lesson plan

Lesson 1. Introduction

Meet your instructor, artist Richard Scott, before diving into an exploration of various expressive works and the artistic decisions behind them.

22:12

Lesson 2. Form Sense, Placement & Line

Discover the difference between Dionysian and Apollonian styles, and learn how both techniques can affect the look and feel of works in different ways. Scott walks you through various works in regard to their universal or individual focus, and discusses artistic choices regarding composition, placement and movement.

11:58

Lesson 3. Gesture & Rhythm

How do artists use charcoal, graphite and paint to suggest an inhalation of breath, the emotions a subject is experiencing, or even the presence of dreams? Discover the answer to these questions and more as you explore various artworks in regard to gesture, rhythm and implied meaning.

26:01

Lesson 4. Lighting & Contour Line Drawing

Bring drama and dimension to your subject with professional lighting techniques. Scott demonstrates a range of lighting effects on a sculpture cast to show how you can create various moods, and teaches you how to draw using a measurement system called triangulation.

17:49

Lesson 5. Properties of Light & Reductive Drawing

Using the techniques you learned in Lesson 4, Scott shows you additional ways to work with light. Follow along as you use a reductive drawing technique that incorporates charcoal and an eraser to capture the play of light and shadow, and learn how to explore atmospheric depth and sculptural form in new ways.

25:15

Lesson 6. Refining & Avoiding Common Hurdles

Discover some of the most common mistakes artists make in expressive drawings and ways that you can avoid the same problems. Scott also offers valuable tips on refining your drawings as you use value and light to your advantage.

14:18

Lesson 7. Charcoal & Graphite Technique

In the final lesson, Scott refines a charcoal and graphite drawing to demonstrate ways to achieve strong contrast and expressiveness. You’ll gain deeper insight into paper selections, how to work from photographs and discover new ways to bring dimension and intellectual depth into your work using subtle details.

"Great articulation of the classical approach to a subject with lots of wonderful information!" - ChristyOlsenArizona

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Lesson 1. Introduction

Meet your instructor, artist Richard Scott, before diving into an exploration of various expressive works and the artistic decisions behind them.

22:12

Lesson 2. Form Sense, Placement & Line

Discover the difference between Dionysian and Apollonian styles, and learn how both techniques can affect the look and feel of works in different ways. Scott walks you through various works in regard to their universal or individual focus, and discusses artistic choices regarding composition, placement and movement.

11:58

Lesson 3. Gesture & Rhythm

How do artists use charcoal, graphite and paint to suggest an inhalation of breath, the emotions a subject is experiencing, or even the presence of dreams? Discover the answer to these questions and more as you explore various artworks in regard to gesture, rhythm and implied meaning.

26:01

Lesson 4. Lighting & Contour Line Drawing

Bring drama and dimension to your subject with professional lighting techniques. Scott demonstrates a range of lighting effects on a sculpture cast to show how you can create various moods, and teaches you how to draw using a measurement system called triangulation.

17:49

Lesson 5. Properties of Light & Reductive Drawing

Using the techniques you learned in Lesson 4, Scott shows you additional ways to work with light. Follow along as you use a reductive drawing technique that incorporates charcoal and an eraser to capture the play of light and shadow, and learn how to explore atmospheric depth and sculptural form in new ways.

25:15

Lesson 6. Refining & Avoiding Common Hurdles

Discover some of the most common mistakes artists make in expressive drawings and ways that you can avoid the same problems. Scott also offers valuable tips on refining your drawings as you use value and light to your advantage.

14:18

Lesson 7. Charcoal & Graphite Technique

In the final lesson, Scott refines a charcoal and graphite drawing to demonstrate ways to achieve strong contrast and expressiveness. You’ll gain deeper insight into paper selections, how to work from photographs and discover new ways to bring dimension and intellectual depth into your work using subtle details.

The instructor

Richard Scott, Instructor of Expressive Figure Drawing

Richard T. Scott received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art, and spent several years as a painter for Jeff Koons and a studio assistant to Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum. American Artist magazine named him as one of the 75 greatest artists of time, and his work has been exhibited at Le Grand Palais in Paris, Palazzo Cini in Venice, the Museum of New Art in Detroit, and in numerous solo and group shows. Of Scott, art critic Grégory Picard noted “Richard T. Scott sees our epoch with the eyes of Rembrandt — an attitude nearly revolutionary on the scene of contemporary art."

Ratings & reviews

Class rating

(8 reviews)

Great!

by SticksStudio on March 7, 2015

I thoroughly enjoyed this class. Richard presented a wealth of technical and theoretical information. He connected well with his audience with warmth and sincerity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class. Richard presented a wealth of technical and theoretical information. He connected well with his audience with warmth and sincerity.

The Classical Approach

by ChristyOlsen on October 4, 2014

Great articulation of the classical approach to a subject with lots of wonderful information!

Great articulation of the classical approach to a subject with lots of wonderful information!

Inapplicable, Impractical

by Clifton Prince on January 31, 2015

Though this class is entitled "Expressive Figure Drawing" it's more like "Look at My Great Artworks." His work? Really? The instructor could have found plenty of drawings and paintings from among the greats of Western (and non-Western!) Art History rather than consistently bally-hoo-ing his own accomplishments. Though he does have a few useful concepts to impart, they're more helpful as analytical mental tools than as practical hands-on tools (for example, ...

Though this class is entitled "Expressive Figure Drawing" it's more like "Look at My Great Artworks." His work? Really? The instructor could have found plenty of drawings and paintings from among the greats of Western (and non-Western!) Art History rather than consistently bally-hoo-ing his own accomplishments. Though he does have a few useful concepts to impart, they're more helpful as analytical mental tools than as practical hands-on tools (for example, "placement" of the figure on the page? how do I CHOOSE, and how do I START my work after I made that choice? all he tells us, is, that one type of placement has one type of effect, another placement another effect; but how would -I- get an effect with MY hands and pencils?). It comes across as more along the lines of a lecture from a non-practicing art college professor about what the professor thinks the artist should be thinking about when drawing, rather than a set of instructions and tips from one experienced practicing artist to another less experienced practicing artist. Didn't like it much, sorry to say. :(

Frequently asked questions

You have the option to draw along on various studies with your instructor, Richard Scott, but ultimately you’ll enjoy applying the methods and theories covered in class to projects of your own choosing. Scott demonstrates various stylistic choices that you’ll be able to make on future projects, illustrating concepts such as line, gesture, rhythm and form to help you look at art in new ways.